Dyslexia gene identified
Categories: Newborns, Medical conditions, Education, Special needs
A team of scientists at Oxford University in England have identified a gene linked to dyslexia, a learning disability that often leads to reading and spelling difficulties. If not addressed early on, children can fall behind in literacy skills and spend the rest of their lives trying to catch up. With this new discovery, however, children may be able to get help in coping with the condition sooner."On average," notes Dr. Silvia Paracchini, of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford, "people carrying this common genetic variant tended to perform poorly on tests of reading ability. However, it is important to note that this is only true for reading ability and not for IQ, so it doesn't appear to be connected to cognitive impairment." In other words, dyslexia does not affect intelligence, just the ability to process certain types of information.
It's estimated that about fifteen percent of the people in the UK carry the gene, so it seems to me that identifying it and being able to check for it is a very good thing.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Heather 10-08-2008 @ 11:00AM
There are different types of Dyslexia. Some people ahve a hard time reading others don't. Some ( like me) read quite well but can't spell for beans. Others thier math is affected, some it is following the steps to complete a task.
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